Less than an hour before what had been an uneventful trade deadline, Steve Tambellini pulled the trigger on a major deal with a much-rumoured trading partner, Dean Lombardi of the LA Kings. The only small detail that was wrong was the names of any of the prinicpals as it is Dustin Penner, not Ales Hemsky, who is heading to the left coast, and Colten Teubert, not Brayden Schenn, heading for the River City. Oilers also acquired the Kings’ first-rounder in the upcoming 2011 Entry Draft, a pick which currently projects around the #21 position, as well as a conditional third-round pick in 2012 which could be upgraded to a second-rounder if the Kings have a successful playoffs this year, or so the scuttlebutt currently has it.

So, three assets. Hmmm. Let’s start by talking about the one (slightly) known commodity, namely Colten Teubert. He’s a big (6’4, 201) right-shooting defenceman who was taken 13th overall in the 2008 draft, which is to say, nine picks before his Regina Pats teammate Jordan Eberle. Looking at his stats page Teubert appears to be the second coming of Alex Plante, which is a bit of a strange acquisition given we’re already waiting for the First coming of Alex Plante. Whatever, I suppose having two youngsters with a 50% chance of making it is better odds than one.

Penner originally cost the Oilers three assets, their first three draft choices in 2008, which were #12, #43 and #73 overall. The return coming back now doesn’t seem much different, a slight upgrade if anything. In the meantime Penner was paid a good dollar, and produced at a pretty decent level, scoring 93 goals since his arrival in Edmonton 3&frac34; years ago, 29 more than any other Oiler.

That production will be hard to replace, Penner’s gigantic body even moreso on a team already overladen with smurfs. Of course they may well find that replacement the same place they found Penner himself, on the free agent market. There is now additional cap room to address the need for a power forward, perhaps an edgier one than Dustin himself, maybe even one who can play centre. The Oilers remain flush on the flanks with veteran Ales Hemsky and the entire H.O.P.E. brigade of Hall, Omark, Paajarvi and Eberle all natural wingers vying for top six type ice time. So in the short term this deal will open up an increased opportunity for somebody like Paajarvi, perhaps even Teemu Hartikainen.

For Penner this represents a move to the home of his new wife, which may have played a role in the “fit” of this deal, who knows. He has played in southern California before, playing seven playoff rounds and winning a Stanley Cup in Anaheim, all while technically a rookie. His game may be ideal for the post season, alas, we in Edmonton never got the chance to see that first hand. For sure this will make the Kings that much more interesting to follow this April and beyond.

As an Oiler Dustin Penner was a controversial character, a lightning rod among a fan base who either loved the guy, hated him, or both. His strengths as a player are, well, his strength, and his ability to be an excellent complementary player on any line. To those who follow or produce advanced stats – such as the Cult of Hockey’s own David Staples – the guy was a dream.

He joins a Kings squad that already features big top six forwards in Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown, indeed it’s easy to imagine that threesome going head-to-head against the rival Ducks’ behemoth trio of Getzlaf-Perry-Ryan. It’s a big addition for the Kings, who now feature four prominent ex-Oilers, including Ryan Smyth, Jarret Stoll and Matt Greene. It’ll be all the easier to root for that squad in the post-season, give or take the fact that their playoff success could reduce the position of the draft pick Oilers just acquired. Presumably that is both the reason and the trigger for the condition on the secondary pick in 2012, so this Oiler fan is not going to lose much sleep over it either way.

The deal was by far the larger of the two transactions Steve Tambellini signed off at the deadline. The other was a swap of minor league defencemen, as Shawn Belle was swapped to the Colorado organization for 22-year-old blueliner Kevin Montgomery. Perhaps the driving force behind this deal was the fact that Belle has been a supernumerary veteran in OKC, one of six guys with 260+ professional GP. AHL rules restrict teams to using just five such players, so since Zack Stortini’s arrival Belle has been sitting out with a mysterious “lower body injury” that sounds suspiciously similar to Gilbert Brule’s various ailments. An injury of convenience. Montgomery, a former teammate of Sam Gagner with London Knights, presents no such barriers. For that matter, neither does Colten Teubert as OKC’s blueline just got both younger and more crowded.

Some sound bites from Penner’s parting press conference:

“I had a decent first year, the second was something a lot of people would like to forget, and the last two I’ve enjoyed throughly.”

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